In many homes and businesses, pull-down attic stairs are a necessary evil. Typical applications for these stairs are where additional storage space is required, but nothing is available in the structure except for an attic crawl space.
If an attic crawl space is all that is available, then the occupants will need to determine a quick, cheap and reliable means of accessing the attic. A portable utility ladder is one solution, however, portable utility ladders are too portable. They are not very stable at times, and require a spotter for safety. In addition, ladders are easily taken away and used for other purposes, which effectively prevents access to the attic.
One solution to this problem is a set of pull-down attic stairs. These stairs are permanently attached to a ceiling panel and mounted between ceiling studs. One end of the panel is attached to the ceiling with a hinge, and the other end of the panel can be pulled down away from the ceiling. The unhinged end is biased up toward the ceiling with a large spring mechanism. After the panel is pulled down, a set of stairs is unfolded down to the floor. This device is an easy way to have a permanent, easily accessible set of stairs available, but these stairs have several shortcomings.
The first shortcoming is that the individual treads are quite shallow, when measured from front to back. Shallow treads do not inspire confidence when ascending and descending; only a very limited amount of the user's foot is in contact with each tread. Manufacturers do not make the treads any deeper because deeper treads will extend beyond the frame and interfere with the treads on other sections of the folding stairs. For these manufacturers, in order to enable the treads to be deeper, the frame must be made larger. This is not a good solution where manufacturers are trying to control material costs, and the larger stairs may not fit into the available ceiling space.
For those whose existing stairs have these shortcomings, the solutions are either to replace the entire folding stair set, or to add deeper treads to the existing stair set. Replacing the entire stair set can be quite expensive and time-consuming.
Thus, what is desired is a set of deep treads that are easily attached to an existing stair set. The treads should be large enough to inspire confidence when ascending and descending, but should not interfere in any way with the function of the stair set.
It is intended that any other advantages and objects of the present invention that become apparent or obvious from the detailed description or illustrations contained herein are within the scope of the present invention.